You may have read about the study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology recently which noted the beneficial effect of a mild chocolate aroma in the air on book buyers. I am quite confident in the results of the study, given the researchers were Belgian. A grad student at Ole Miss or a professor from MIT wouldn’t do. But a Belgian chocolate researcher, well, it sounds like the gold standard to me. After roaming the shelves, consumers were forty percent more likely to buy romance and cookbooks and twenty-two percent more likely to buy anything else.
So what’s an author to do with this information? Given my novels are available online in digital and paperback form, I have a serious aromatic challenge to my success as a writer. I can’t go around smearing chocolate on everyone’s laptop, iPad, smart phone or Kindle. Okay, I could, but it would take forever and I’d gain about a hundred pounds in the process.
Then it hit me. I can’t waft the scent of chocolate across the internet, but I can hook you up with a path to chocolate, a source for olfactory excitement guaranteed to drive you into a digital book buying frenzy. But what path should I take? Chocolate truffles? Fudge? Dark chocolate cake?
The Nick Sibelius series is set in Texas. How about something more aligned to Mexico and the Southwest? I could do something simple, like some steaming Mexican hot chocolate, but I know you, dear reader. You want a challenge. You want to be wowed. You want mole.
If you’re not familiar with this exquisite Mexican delight, then you’re in for a treat. An exotic and rich mixture of chilies, spices, nuts and yes, chocolate, this is the stuff food writers talk about when they talk about ‘food of the gods’. Trust me, your journey on this planet is not complete without partaking in some well prepared mole. I imagine every grandmother in Mexico has a secret family mole recipe, but just to keep it simple, here’s a link to Food and Wine’s recipe. This will take you several hours to make, but consider the extraordinary online digital book shopping you will experience. Imagine browsing for TOXIC RELATIONSHIP or DIRTY WATER, the complex earthy chocolatey aroma of mole filling your senses, urging, no demanding, you buy books 22 to 40% more than you would normally.
Bon Appétit and Happy Reading!
